CGC Convention

A trip report is now available for Gary’s travel to Montreal, Quebec in March 2019. While in Montreal, Gary attended the 2019 Canada Crops Convention at the Le Westin Montreal. This year’s convention, hosted jointly by the Canada Grains Council and the Canola Council of Canada, featured opportunities to network, coordinate and improve international dialogue with grain trade leaders. The convention focused on advancements and trends in agriculture production and trade provided for market education and intelligence gathering opportunities with NAEGA members and other stakeholders.

A copy of Gary’s trip report can be found here.

DBTG Operational and Technical Seminar

This week, Ryan is back from Barcelona, Spain where he attended a meeting of the Dry Bulk Terminal Group’s (DBTG) Operational and Technical Seminar on April 9-11. At the seminar, Ryan toured the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona and participated in meetings on dry bulk terminal safety and health issues. In particular, Ryan learned more about upcoming agenda items and papers at the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) meeting of the Subcommittee on the Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC) in September. Ryan also participated in a meeting of the DBTG’s Executive Committee, during which the committee discussed DBTG finances and operations, as well as the transition to a new executive director.

A trip report for this travel will be available in the coming days.

IGTC Newsletter

The latest IGTC newsletter is now available! This edition features a report on the IPPC CPM, where the IGTC made a presentation on the IPPC ePhyto initiative, the continental free trade agreement in Africa, and a preview of upcoming IGTC events in Switzerland, China and Mexico.

Download the latest newsletter here!

IPPC CPM

IGTC Secretariat Katy Lee is back from Rome, Italy where she attended the International Plant Protection Convention’s 14^th Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), a meeting of the 183 contracting parties to the IPPC. At the CPM Katy monitored agenda topics relevant to the IGTC policy priorities, including:

• The contribution of the global trade of commodities to global food security and economic development
• The business plan for the ePhyto Solution post 2019
• International Year of Plant Health 2020 (IYPH 2020)
• Next generation sequencing technologies as a diagnostic tool for phytosanitary purposes
• Adding, deleting or modifying IPPC documents on the following subjects of interest to IGTC members:
• Terms for consideration by the Technical Panel on the Glossary (TPG);
• Diagnostic protocols for consideration by the Technical Panel on Diagnostic Protocols (TPDP);
• Phytosanitary treatments for consideration by the Technical Panel on Phytosanitary Treatments (TPPT)

A trip report for this travel will be available in the coming days.

Contracts and Best Practices Seminars – Your advice requested

The NAEGA Contracts Committee is seeking your advice on the location, timing and curriculum of this year’s Contracts and Best Practices Seminars. We have scheduled a seminar in Tokyo for November 22.

Please let us know if you are interested in attending or hosting a seminar, and what topics we should focus on. The Committee is now considering contract seminars in the following locations:

• Vancouver, British Columbia
• St. Louis, MO
• Winnipeg, Manitoba

NAEGA seminars are an intensive and informative review of commercial and official practices taught in an interactive environment. The goal of each seminar is to improve predictability, reduce risks, resolve trade barriers and facilitate profitable trade.

NAEGA conducts both public and private seminars, and curriculum can be tailored to your needs. Please contact Patrick if you are interested in hosting a private, tailored seminar at your office. Click here for more information on the in-depth, interactive programs NAEGA conducts!

U.S. Government Actions on Canada thistle

This week, NAEGA was informed that USDA FGIS has asked the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) to ask exporters to include a request for Canadian Thistle Seed analysis on all wheat load orders bound for the Republic of Korea and Argentina, as well as all wheat and soybean load orders bound for Vietnam.  WSDA indicates it will do the initial analysis, but any “suspect” thistle seeds will be sent to the APHIS lab in North Carolina for further analysis. 

NAEGA expects to continue discussion with relevant committees on the actions of both U.S. and Vietnam government in this regard.  These developments build upon ongoing actions related to Canada thistle presence. In particular, USDA APHIS has advised NAEGA that:

• Vietnam will require destruction or reexport of U.S. wheat or soybeans in which seeds of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) are detected in incoming deliveries arriving March 1, 2019 or later. APHIS will implement a Canada thistle sampling protocol during U.S. export phytosanitary inspection for wheat and soybeans after an expected directive is issued by the Federal Grain Inspection Service. Only consignments in which no Canada thistle seed is detected will be eligible for phytosanitary certification for Vietnam
• FGIS will issue a new directive by Wednesday, February 27, which will describe the procedures for detecting Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) seeds in wheat and soybeans bound for Vietnam. All wheat and soybean consignments with inspection dates on or after the directive date will require seed analysis. APHIS will issue phytosanitary certificates for wheat and soybeans bound for Vietnam inspected on or after the directive date only when accompanied by a completed export phytosanitary inspection report (e.g. FGIS-921-2) indicating freedom from seed of Canada thistle. The FGIS directive is to be posted at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/about-ams/fgis-program-directives.

NAEGA continues pursue measures based on sound science and consistent with international convention that are least trade distortive.  We are working to support work with VN PPD in order to establish a compliance regime to pre-empt the precautionary and yet-to-be-identified-or-justified visual inspection at import and re-export measures upon port arrival of U.S. cargoes in VN.  

Canada Crops Convention

This week, Gary returns from Montreal, Quebec where he attended the Canada Crops Convention. The convention, hosted by the Canadian Grains Council (CGC) and the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) attracts people from across the grain, oilseed, pulse and special crop value chains to: network, coordinate and improve dialogue; discuss and gain insight into advancements and trends in agriculture; and be inspired to continue a collaborative approach to advance the growth and profitability of Canadian crops.

While in Montreal, Gary also conducted visits with NAEGA member companies and prospective members. A trip report for this travel will be available soon.

IFA Conference

Katy is wrapping up a successful three days in London, UK where she attended and presented at the International Fertilizer Association’s (IFA) Production and International Trade Conference. At this IFA conference, Katy represented the IGTC on a panel called: “Trade tensions on the rise - A look at the potential impacts on agri-food and fertilizer trade.”

A trip report for this travel will be available soon.